EDUCATION and health, welfare economists say, are two sectors in which the state has a critical role to play in a developing market economy. Unfortunately in India the authorities continue to let down the citizenry, especially the poor, on both fronts.
This is evident from the incident of 120 children falling ill in a Delhi school after they consumed the Mid- Day meal — the second such incident in the capital in less than a month. And the poor health infrastructure the state provides was exposed when the hospital the sick children were taken to was found unprepared for such an emergency.
If this is the quality of services being provided in the national capital, it is only to be wondered what goes on in the remote areas of the country. As is well known, the Mid- Day Meal Scheme is a vital programme of the Union government that is meant to encourage more people from underprivileged sections to send their children to school, besides providing kids with a nutritious diet. But every now and then we have evidence that, as is the case with National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, the delivery standards are unsatisfactory.
